CANIFF NEWS - JULY 2011

The most anticipated book of 2011 - CANIFF: A Visual Biography - is almost here! It's still due for August 2nd. Read more about it here.

Hermes Press gives a one-two punch to wind up summer. Steve Canyon: The Complete Series v.1, reprinting Steve's adventures in Dell Four Color, will be released a week after CANIFF on August 9th. Male Call, the collection of Caniff's wartime Camp News Services strips, is now set for September 15th.

Hermes Press has also announced a deluxe reprint project for Frank Robbins' Johnny Hazard. As far as artists of the Caniff school go, Robbins was top of his class. Hazard, about an aviating man of action, ran over 30 years. There were two separate reprint series in the 1980s, but those are hard to come by, so this project is welcome news. Johnny Hazard, Volume One-The Newspaper Dailies: 1944-1946 is also due in September.

The National Aviation Hall of Fame held their induction ceremony on July 15th and 16th. The Milton Caniff Spirit of Flight Award, recognizing exceptional contributions to the advancement of flight, was given to the Blue Angels flight demonstration team. It is the 65th anniversary of the Blue Angels, a Navy squadron known for their choreographed aerobatics in F/A-18 Hornets.

The National Cartoonists Society held their annual Reuben Awards in May. The awards weekend, held in Boston, were the Society's 65th. The Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to R.O. Blechman, a cartoonist and animator known for his squiggly line. His latest books are 'Dear James', his wealth of experiences presented as letters to a young cartoonist, and 'Talking Lines', a collection of his cartoon narratives.
Photo above by David Folkman. See more of Folkman's photos from the event here,

Finally, a humorous look at R.C. Harvey's 2007 biography of Caniff that was presented at the Reubens. Creator Tom Gammill follows "the Donner Book Party" on their harrowing journey through the 900 page tome.